Information Technology Project Management

Scope - answer--The deliverables or work products that must be completed in order to achieve the project's MOV. -Provides a boundary so that what needs to get done - gets done. -Otherwise, schedule and budget are increased for no reason -Defines what is part of the project team's work and what is not. -This also sets expectations for all of the project's stakeholders -Provides a link between the project's MOV and the project plan. Project Planning Framework - answer- Project Management Process - answer-Scope Planning Scope Definition Create Work Breakdown Structure Scope Verification Scope Change Control Scope Planning - answer-The development of a scope management plan that defines the project's scope and how it will be verified and controlled throughout the project. Scope Management Plan Scope Definition - answer-A detailed scope statement that defines what work will and will not be part of the project and will serve as a basis for all future project decisions. Detailed Project Scope Create Work Breakdown Structure - answer-The decomposition or dividing of the major project deliverables into smaller and more manageable components; an important tool that ties the project's scope to resources and activities. The WBS represents a logical decomposition of the work to be performed and focuses on how the product, service, or result is naturally subdivided. It is an outline of what work is to be performed. WBS Scope Verification - answer-Confirmation and formal acceptance that the project's scope is accurate, complete, and supports the project's MOV. Scope Verification Checklist Scope Change Control - answer-Ensuring that controls are in place to manage proposed scope changes once the project's scope is set; helps the project achieve its MOV. These procedures must be communicated to all project stakeholders. Scope Change Control Process (Scope Change Request Form/Scope Change Request Log) Project Scope Initiation & Planning - answer-A beginning process that formally authorizes the project manager and team to develop the scope management plan This entails: Conceptualizing the Scope Boundary Developing the Scope Statement Scope Boundary - answer-The first step to establishing what is, and what is not, part of the project work to be completed by the project team (fence designed to keep some things in (supports MOV) and other things out (does not support MOV)) Scope Management Plan - answer-the processes and techniques for defining and managing scope Scope Statement - answer-Provides a way to define the scope boundary. A narrative of what deliverables or work-products the project team will and will not provide throughout the project. A first step that provides a high-level abstraction of the project's scope that will be defined in greater detail as the project progresses. Project Scope Definition - answer-Where deliverables can be divided into project- oriented deliverables and product- oriented deliverables. Project-Oriented Scope - answer-Deliverables that support the project management and IT development processes defined in the Information Technology Project Methodology (ITPM). Examples: Business case, project charter and project plan, etc. Definition Tools: DDT & DSC Deliverable Definition Table (DDT) - answer-define all of the project- oriented deliverables to be provided by the project team. Deliverable Structure Chart (DSC) - answer-can be developed as an interim step to define detailed work packages that will be used to estimate the project schedule and budget (used to create WBS) Product-Oriented Scope - answer-High-level features and functionality of the application system First cut for requirements definition that will be defined in greater detail during the systems development life cycle (SDLC) Examples Add new customer, look up customer balance, print daily sales report by region, etc. Definition Tools: DFD & UCD (Context) Dataflow Diagram (DFD) - answer-modeling tool for refining the scope boundary and defining what the system must do Use Case Diagram - answer-a powerful tool for identifying the main functions or features of the system and the different users or external systems that interact with the system; used in OO world as a part of Unified Modeling Language (UML) Scope Verification - answer-Ensures: That the project's scope is well-defined, accurate and complete The project's scope is acceptable to the project stakeholders That standards exist so that the project's scope will be completed correctly That the project's MOV will be achieved if the project scope is completed Tools: Scope Verification Checklist Scope Verification Checklist - answer-MOV Deliverables Quality Standards Milestones Review and Acceptance Scope Change Control - Mitigates - answer-Scope Grope Scope Creep Scope Leap Scope Grope - answer-metaphor that describes a project team's inability to define the project's scope. Use Case - answer-depicts the major functions the system must perform for an actor or actors. JAD - answer-a group- based method where the users and systems analysts jointly define the system requirements or design the system (Joint Application Development) Scope Creep - answer-refers to increasing featurism, adding small yet time- and resource- consuming features to the system once the scope of the project has been approved. Scope Leap - answer-scope leap sug-gests a fundamental and significant change in the project scope (changes MOV; happens as a result of changes in the environment, the business, and the competitive makeup of the industry) Project Time Management - answer-focuses on the processes necessary to develop the project schedule and to ensure that the project is completed on time. Activity definition Activity sequencing Activity duration estimation Schedule development Schedule control Activity definition - answer-Identifying what activities must be completed to produce the project scope deliverables Activity sequencing - answer-Determining whether activities can be completed sequentially or in parallel and any dependencies that may exist among them Activity resource estimation - answer-Identifying the type of resources ( people, tech-nology, facilities, etc.) and the quantity of resources needed to carry out project activities Activity duration estimation - answer-Estimating the time to complete each activity Schedule development - answer-Based on the availability of resources, the activities, their sequence, and time estimates, a schedule for the entire budget can be developed Schedule control - answer-Ensuring that proper processes and procedures are in place in order to control changes to the project schedule Work Package - answer- Work Package (def) - answer-smaller components and more manageable units of work of the project decomposed or subdivided by the WBS Milestone - answer-a significant event or achievement that provides evidence that that deliverable has been completed or that a phase is formally over. cruxes - answer-proof of concepts Deliverables - answer-Tangible, verifiable work products Reports, presentations, prototypes, etc. Milestones (key components) - answer-Significant events or achievements Acceptance of deliverables or phase completion Cruxes (proof of concepts) Quality control Keeps team focused Developing the WBS - answer-The WBS Should Be Deliverable-Oriented The WBS Should Support the Project's MOV Ensure WBS allows for the delivery of all the project's deliverables as defined in project scope 100 percent rule The Level of Detail Should Support Planning and Control Developing the WBS Should Involve the People Who Will Be Doing the Work Learning Cycles and Lessons Learned Can Support the Development of a WBS Estimation Techniques - The Project Management Approach - answer-Guesstimating Delphi Technique Time Boxing Top-Down Bottom Up Analogous Estimates (Past experiences) Parametric Modeling (Statistical) Guesstimating - answer-Based on feeling not facts Not a good method for estimating but often used by inexperienced project managers Delphi Technique - answer-Involves multiple, anonymous experts Each expert makes an estimate Estimates compared: If close, can be averaged Else do another iteration until consensus is reached Time Boxing - answer-A "box" of time is allocated for a specific Activity or task or deliverable Can focus a team if used effectively Can demoralize a team if used too often or ineffectively because of the increased stress or pressure on the project team to get things done Top-Down Estimating - answer-Top & middle managers determine overall project schedule &/or cost Lower level managers are expected to breakdown schedule/budget estimates into specific activities (WBS) Often couched in terms of what a project should cost and how long it should take as decreed by a member of top management who thinks those parameters are appropriate. May be a response to the business environment May lead to a death march project. Bottom-Up Estimating - answer-Most common form of project estimation Schedules & budgets are constructed from the WBS Starts with people who will be doing the work Schedules & budgets are the aggregate of detailed activities & costs Analogous estimating - answer-based on similarity between current projects and others. Use information from previous, similar projects as a basis for estimation Parametric Modeling - answer-Use project characteristics (parameters) in a mathematical model to estimate Example: $50/ LOC based on: Programming language Level of expertise Size & complexity Project Estimation - Software Engineering Approaches - answer-Lines of Code (LOC) Function Points COCOMO Heuristics Determinants of Estimating the Largest Deliverable of the Project - The Application System - answer- Lines of Code (LOC) - answer-An often used metric for determining the size of the project Most controversial Count comments? Declaring variables? Efficient code vs. code bloat Language differences Easier to count afterwards than to estimate before programming begins Function Point Analysis - answer-are a synthetic metric, similar to ones used every day, such as hours, kilos, tons, nautical miles, degrees Celsius, and so on. However, function points focus on the functionality and complexity of an application system or a particular module. Allan Albrecht, IBM - 1979 Independent of the Technology IFPUG standards () COCOMO - answer-COnstructive COst MOdel Parametric Model developed by Barry Boehm in 1981 Project types Organic Routine projects where the work is expected to go smoothly with few problems Embedded Challenging projects that may be new ground for the organization or project team Semi-detached In between organic and embedded. Projects that may not be simple and straightforward, but there is a high degree of confidence that the project team can meet the challenge COCOMO Models (Calculate Effort) - answer-Organic - Routine Person Months = 2.4 * KDSI1.05 Embedded - Challenging Person Months = 3.6 * KDSI1.20 Semi-Detached - Middle Person Months = 3.0 * KDSI1.12 COCOMO Models (Calculate Duration) - answer-Organic Duration = 2.5 * Effort0.38 Semi-Detached Duration = 2.5 * Effort0.35 Embedded Duration = 2.5 * Effort0.32 COCOMO Model Types - answer-Basic Intermediate Advanced COCOMO II Heuristics (Rules of Thumb) - answer-1/3 - Planning 1/6 - Coding 1/4 - Component test and early system test 1/4 - System test, all components in hand Some Examples of Heuristics from Estimating Software Costs by Capers Jones (1988) - answer-Each formal design inspection will find and remove 65 percent of the bugs present. Each formal code inspection will find and remove 60 percent of the bugs present. Function points raised to the 0.4 power predict the approximate development schedule in calendar months. Function points divided by 150 predict the approximate number of personnel required for the application. What Is the Best Way to Estimate IT Projects? - answer-Use more than one technique for estimating If estimates from different techniques close, average them Adjust estimate based on experience Negotiation may lead to unrealistic estimations Delphi Techniques - answer-involves multiple experts who arrive at a consensus on a particular subject or issue. Although the Delphi technique is generally used for group decision making, it can be a useful tool for estimating when the time and money warrant the extra effort 1